.JPG "Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching is pictured at Parliament in Kuala Lumpur July 16, 2020. — Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — Former deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching today urged the government to prioritise teachers in its Covid-19 vaccination programme.
The DAP Kulai MP said that it is important to create a safe environment in schools and keep them open, allowing teachers to conduct classes in person.
”Vaccinating teachers becomes a priority and is seen as a critical step towards creating an environment that is safe for children and provides stability in the education ecosystem. Last December, Unicef (The United Nations Children’s Fund) was already calling for teachers to be prioritised to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, once frontline health personnel and high-risk populations are vaccinated.
“This will no doubt help protect teachers from the virus, allow them to teach in person, and ultimately keep schools open which in turn will allow parents and the larger segment of society to gradually return to a semblance of normalcy,” she said in a statement.
Teo called on Education Minister Radzi Jidin to stand up for teachers and have proper measures in place for an effective recovery journey.
In December last year, Sarawak Teachers’ Union (STU) president Adam Parkash Abdullah said teachers in the country should be given priority as Covid-19 vaccine recipients, after frontliners.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham last Monday said that Malaysia is expected to receive the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on February 26.